1 Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of Legato Storage Manager (LSM) for Oracle. It surveys the major features and functionality of LSM and explains how LSM operates in conjunction with the other components of an integrated Oracle backup and recovery system.

Major Topics:

What is Legato Storage Manager?

LSM is a comprehensive Oracle data storage management system. LSM augments the Oracle backup and recovery subsystem in Oracle7 on Windows NT, or Oracle8 and Oracle8i on UNIX® or Windows NT, by means of its media management functionality.

LSM provides Oracle data storage management service to the Oracle Server. You use LSM to configure the Oracle backup devices and the storage volumes in those devices. LSM interacts with the backup/restore utility on the Oracle Server during Oracle backup and restore operations. That utility is Enterprise Backup Utility (EBU) in Oracle7 on Windows NT and Recovery Manager (RMAN) in Oracle8 and Oracle8i. Data storage management for Oracle7 is not discussed in this release level of this book.

You initiate an Oracle backup or restore by running the appropriate backup/restore utility on the Oracle Server. During the backup, LSM receives the Oracle data from the Oracle utility and stores that data on the backup volumes. During the restore operation, LSM retrieves the required data from the backup volumes and passes it to the Oracle utility. LSM also maintains information records about the Oracle backups in its online index files, using this information to track the backed-up data.

As part of an overall Oracle backup and recovery system, LSM provides:

Complete storage device and volume management services

Convenient tracking of Oracle backup data on storage volumes

Management of Oracle backup data throughout a complete data life cycle

Complete disaster recovery protection for Oracle databases

Overview of LSM Features

LSM has two major components:

LSM Server

LSM Administrator GUI

As the main component of LSM, the LSM Server comprises all the programs and information files essential to running LSM. The LSM Server is the component that uses the Oracle backup devices and volumes and maintains information about Oracle backups in its online index files.

You must install the LSM Server on the same Windows NT or UNIX machine as the Oracle Server. You must also connect the Oracle backup devices to the Oracle Server machine.

The LSM Administrator GUI is a graphical user interface to access the LSM Server and its resources. You can run the LSM Administrator GUI to connect to and configure the LSM Server, storage devices, and storage volumes. You can also use the LSM Administrator GUI to monitor the status of Oracle backup and restore operations.

The LSM Administrator GUI can run on the Oracle Server machine. You install both the LSM Server and LSM Administrator GUI components during the LSM installation procedure on the Oracle Server machine. In addition, you can install and run the LSM Administrator GUI separately on a Windows NT platform.

Figure 1-1 illustrates the general organization of LSM and its major components.

Figure 1-1 LSM Components

In Figure 1-1, the LSM Server has been installed on a UNIX system with the Oracle8i Server, and the LSM Administrator GUI has been installed on a separate Windows NT system on the network. The LSM Administrator GUI connects to the LSM Server over the network. The LSM Server uses the two online index files shown--the client index and media index--to store information about the Oracle backups. It uses this information to manage the life cycle of the Oracle backup data and enables LSM users to browse this index information.

Note:

LSM has a subset of the features in the Legato NetWorker upgrade product from Legato Systems Inc. The upgrade product consists of the latest combination of Legato NetWorker and BusinesSuite Module for Oracle. Information about upgrading from LSM is available in the LSM splash screen that appears when you start the LSM Administrator GUI. For more information about upgrading from LSM, contact your Legato representative.

You use LSM to configure and manage the storage devices connected to the Oracle Server as well as the storage volumes used in those devices. LSM stores the backup data passed from the Oracle Server's backup/restore utility on storage volumes mounted in the devices. During Oracle data recovery, LSM retrieves the backed-up Oracle data from the appropriate storage volumes and passes it to the Oracle utility.

You start an Oracle backup or restore by running one of the two following programs:

Command-line interface of the Oracle backup/restore utility on the Oracle Server

Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) Backup Manager

The Oracle backup/restore utility, Recovery Manager (RMAN), creates the Oracle backup data objects and then passes them to LSM.

As an optional component of the Oracle backup and recovery system, OEM Backup Manager is a graphical user interface to the Oracle backup/restore utility. OEM Backup Manager directs the Oracle utility on the Oracle Server to perform the backup. You must install OEM Backup Manager on a Windows NT system, which can be either the Oracle Server machine or a separate machine on the network.

It is possible to install the LSM GUI on the same machine as OEM Backup Manager. Again, you can use the LSM Administrator GUI to connect to and configure LSM Server, manage the storage devices and volumes, and monitor the status of Oracle backups and restores. You can also configure and use LSM by means of LSM command-line utilities on the Oracle Server.

LSM supports the backup of Oracle tablespaces, datafiles, control files, and archived logs. However, it only supports the backup of Oracle data on the Oracle Server machine--not the backup of any other filesystem data on that machine or the backup of data on any other machine connected to the same network.

Note:

If you want to back up non-Oracle filesystem data on the Oracle Server in addition to Oracle data, you can contact your Legato Systems Inc. representative for more information.

LSM supports a maximum of four concurrent tertiary storage devices (tape only) and a maximum of four Oracle data streams being backed up simultaneously to the available storage devices. LSM does not support certain other features of the upgrade Legato NetWorker storage management product, such as autochangers (or jukeboxes), cloning, and scheduled Oracle backups.

In summary, the following list outlines the major features of LSM, running on the same machine as the Oracle Server:

With Oracle7, support for Windows NT 4.0 only

With Oracle8 and Oracle8i, support for Windows NT 4.0, AIX 4.1.4 or later, DIGITAL UNIX 4.0A or later, HP-UX 10.20 and 11.00, and Solaris 2.5.1or later

LSM configuration and use by means of the LSM Administrator GUI, which can run on either the Oracle Server or a separate Windows NT machine

Configuration and management of the storage devices and volumes used for Oracle backups

Support for backup and restore of Oracle tablespaces, datafiles, control files, and archived logs

Support for backup and restore of only Oracle data on the Oracle Server--not other filesystem data on that machine or data on another machine on the network

During Oracle backup, storage of the Oracle data objects created by the Oracle backup/restore utility onto volumes in the backup devices

During recovery of Oracle data, retrieval of the appropriate Oracle data objects from appropriate storage volumes

Monitoring of the progress of Oracle backup and restore operations

Management of the Oracle backup data life cycle by means of two online indexes

Browsing of online index information for Oracle backups

Support for up to four concurrent storage devices

Support for up to four simultaneous data streams

LSM does not support certain features of the standard Legato NetWorker storage management system--autochangers, cloning, and scheduled backups.

Legato Storage Manager and SAP R/3 Integration

Legato Systems and Oracle provide a means to integrate SAP R/3 with Oracle backup and recovery (RMAN) and LSM. For more information on LSM, visit the web site at:

http://www.backup-oracle.com.

Commonly Asked Questions:

Q.

What is LSM?

A.

LSM is bundled on a number of Oracle8 ports(*) to provide a media management layer for Oracle8's Recovery Manager (RMAN). This combination provides Oracle8 customers with an entry-level, "out-of-the-box" backup and recovery solution.

LSM provides a means to integrate SAP R/3 and Oracle8 backup and recovery initiated from SAPDBA along with the SAP br-tools (brbackup, brarchive, and brrestore) with the LSM server to perform archival, backup, and recovery. LSM provides volume labels and client resource files.

LSM provides you with the following:

Up to four concurrent data streams sent to up to four tape devices

Integration with Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM)

Online (hot) backup

Block level incremental backups

Q.

What is the difference between the SAP R/3 support in LSM, which I get free with Oracle, and Legato's NetWorker BusinesSuite Module for SAP R/3 on Oracle?

A.

The NetWorker BusinesSuite Module for SAP R/3 on Oracle that you can purchase from Legato provides the following additional features:

Up to 64 concurrent data streams sent to up to 32 tape devices for additional performance

Tape autochanger and library support

Disaster recovery features

SAP specific notifications

Centralized backup and remote recovery

Filesystem backup and restore

Integrating SAP R/3 with LSM on Windows NT

LSM provides a means to integrate SAP R/3 on Oracle backup and recovery initiated from SAPDBA along with the SAP br-tools (brbackup, brarchive, and brrestore) with the LSM server to perform archival, backup, and recover operations on Windows NT.

On the Oracle software CD-ROM, the directory containing the LSM software has a subdirectory named SAP with the following files for SAP R/3 on Oracle:

init.utl--parameter file that specifies the variables used by backint during backup, recover, and archive operations

README--text file that describes the SAP R/3 files and where to install them

You can perform the following steps to set up and configure LSM with SAP R/3 on Oracle:

Install LSM on the Oracle server, with SAP R/3 already installed. Follow the LSM installation instructions included in the Oracle Installation Guide for Windows NT.

Be sure to include the pathname of the LSM executables directory in the PATH environment variable for the Oracle user, ora<oracle_sid>. For example, if LSM is installed in the default directory, be sure to include C:\win32app\nsr\bin in the PATH variable.

Configure a client resource for the Oracle server in LSM, according to the instructions in Chapter 2 of this Legato Storage Manager Administrator's Guide.

From the subdirectory named SAP in the LSM directory on the Oracle CD-ROM, copy the backint program file into the directory where the SAP br-tools reside.

From the subdirectory named SAP in the LSM directory on the Oracle CD-ROM, copy the file init.utl into the directory where you installed LSM (by default, C:\win32app\nsr\bin).

Instruct the SAP Database Administration program to use the backint program by setting the backup_dev_type parameter in the SAP initialization file, init<oracle_sid>.sap. In init<oracle_sid>.sap, set the parameter as follows:

backup_dev_type = util_file

Instruct the SAP Database Administration program to use the file init<oracle_sid>.utl for backint-specific parameters by setting the util_par_file parameter in the SAP initialization file, init<oracle_sid>.sap. In init<oracle_sid>.sap, set the parameter as follows:

util_par_file = ?\DATABASE\init<oracle_sid>.utl

Note:

The session report, backint<oracle_sid>.log, is created after the first backup session using SAP R/3 integrated with LSM. The report, typically located in the directory c:\win32app\nsr\logs, is appended to after each backup, recover, or archive.

Overview of Oracle Backup and Recovery System

LSM functions with the components of the standard Oracle backup and recovery subsystem to produce a comprehensive Oracle data storage management system. To implement a well-defined Oracle backup and recovery strategy, you need to understand how LSM and the Oracle components work together. The following is a description of the functional details of their interaction.

LSM interacts with the Oracle backup and recovery subsystem during backup and restore operations. The Oracle backup and recovery subsystem comprises the following major components:

Oracle8 or Oracle8i Server

Recovery Manager (RMAN)

Recovery Catalog (optional)

OEM Backup Manager (optional)

Figure 1-2 illustrates the architecture of the overall Oracle backup and recovery system and shows the functional relationship between LSM, RMAN, and the Oracle Server.

Figure 1-2 Oracle8 or Oracle8i Backup and Recovery System

RMAN is the main Oracle backup/restore utility for backing up, restoring, and recovering Oracle databases. It uses information from an Oracle database's control file or Recovery Catalog to locate, back up, restore, and recover datafiles, control files, and archived logs.

RMAN simplifies Oracle backup and recovery procedures by providing a way to:

Configure frequently executed backup operations

Generate a printable log of all backup and recovery actions

Use the Recovery Catalog to automate restore and recovery operations

Perform automatic parallelization of backups and restores

Find datafiles requiring a backup based on user-specified limits on the amount of redo that must be applied

Back up an entire database, selected tablespaces, or selected datafiles

The Recovery Catalog is a repository of information maintained by RMAN. RMAN uses the information in the Recovery Catalog or database control file to determine how to execute requested backup and restore actions.

The Recovery Catalog includes information about the following types of objects:

Datafile and archivelog backup sets and backup pieces

Archived redo logs and copies of them

Tablespaces and datafiles at the target database

Stored scripts (for example, user-created sequences of RMAN commands)

Although a Recovery Catalog is not mandatory, Legato recommends using a Recovery Catalog, especially if you have 20 or more datafiles. If you do not use a Recovery Catalog, the following functions are not supported:

Point-in-time recovery

Stored scripts

Restore and recovery when the control file is lost or damaged

For more detailed information about RMAN and the Recovery Catalog and Oracle8i backup and recovery operations, refer to the Oracle8i Backup and Recovery Guide or, for Oracle8, the comparable guide for that release.

Before running an Oracle backup or recovery, you must properly install and configure LSM software on the Oracle Server. The LSM installation automatically configures the Oracle Server as a storage management client of the LSM Server. Then, you can use the LSM Administrator GUI to configure the necessary backup devices and label backup volumes. For more information about LSM configuration, see Chapter 2, "Preparing to Use LSM".

You can start an Oracle backup or recovery by issuing the appropriate commands to RMAN through its command-line interface. Alternatively, you can start the backup or recovery by means of the OEM Backup Manager, the optional graphical user interface to RMAN. The OEM Backup Manager generates RMAN commands that are sent to the Oracle Server, providing a simple interface. Oracle Enterprise Manager enables users to perform backup and recovery by means of the point-and-click method. For information about performing backup and recovery using Oracle Enterprise Manager, refer to the Oracle Enterprise Manager Administrator's Guide.

The RMAN command-line interface starts Oracle Server processes on the database to be backed up or restored (the target database). These Oracle Server processes perform the backup or restore. For example, during an Oracle backup, the Server process reads the datafile, control file, or archived redo log being backed up and writes it to the LSM Server, through the MM API. The LSM Server, in turn, stores the Oracle data to the appropriate backup tape device.

LSM includes a Media Management Library (MML). It is integrated with Oracle during LSM installation on the Oracle Server. The LSM installation links the media management software routines of the LSM library with the Oracle kernel software. This allows the Oracle Server processes to call the MM API routines to back up and restore Oracle datafiles to and from the media controlled by LSM.

At the end of the Oracle backup, the LSM Server updates the online client and media indexes with information about the backup media used and Oracle data stored on it. LSM takes care of the storage management tasks while RMAN passes the data from the Oracle Server to LSM. LSM automatically backs up the client and media indexes once every day as part of the regular LSM Server bootstrap backup.

When you initiate an RMAN restore request, the MM API translates the object names requested by RMAN into a format understood by the LSM Server and forwards it to the LSM Server. The LSM Server searches its online media index for the media containing the requested data objects. It reads the media and passes the data back to the Oracle Server process, which writes the Oracle data to the disk.

Additional Legato Documentation

To take best advantage of the information in this Legato Storage Manager Administrator's Guide, use it in conjunction with the information available in the following documentation.

UNIX Online Help

Note:

Several features documented in the online help are not supported by LSM--such as authorization and registration, archiving, cloning, and using jukeboxes (or autochangers).

The UNIX version of the LSM Administrator GUI includes online help. This online help contains specific information about the GUI, including context-sensitive help in each window that describes the purpose of the window and the information to enter in each field in the window. Other help topics describe LSM features and provide the step-by-step instructions for carrying out LSM functions with the GUI.

To access the online help, select the Help menu displayed in the GUI. There are four choices:

On Window provides context-sensitive help about the current window.

On Topic supplies a list of help topics from which to choose.

On Help gives information about how to use the online help system itself.

On Version provides information about which version of LSM is installed on your system.

The UNIX version of the LSM Administrator GUI also provides Help buttons in most of the dialog boxes. Clicking the Help button in an LSM dialog box displays the help topic associated with that LSM feature.

UNIX Online Manual Pages

Note:

Since the UNIX manual pages for LSM are the same as for the Legato NetWorker upgrade product, you might see "NetWorker" references in the manual pages. For any "NetWorker" reference, substitute "LSM".

The manual (man) pages provided with the UNIX version of LSM are a reference for the syntax and function of the LSM commands you issue from the command line. To view a man page, you can perform the following steps:

Verify that the MANPATH environment variable includes the path to where you installed the LSM man pages.

At the shell prompt, enter the man command plus the name of the LSM command. For example, to view the man page for the nsrmm command, you can type the following man command:

man nsrmm

To print a copy of the entire collection of LSM man pages, enter the troff command at the shell prompt with the options shown in this example:

troff -t -man 'nsr_man -l'| lpr -t -P printer-name

The command for your machine might vary (for example, your print command might be lp instead of lpr), depending on the operating system and the version of PostScript software you have installed.

Windows Online Help

Note:

Several features documented in the online help are not supported by LSM--such as authorization and registration, archiving, cloning, and using jukeboxes (or autochangers).

The Windows NT version of the LSM Administrator GUI has an extensive online help component. You can access the online help both by selecting Help Topics from the Help menu and by clicking the Help button in dialog boxes.

Click the Help Topics toolbar button or select Help Topics from the Help menu to display the Help Topics dialog box, common to most online help systems running on Windows computers. The Help Topics dialog box provides a contents tab, index tab, and keyword search feature to help you find the help topic you need.

Click the Contents tab (the default tab) to display a table of contents organized into books and topics. Double-click a book to display the additional books and/or topics the book contains. Double-click a topic to open the Help dialog box in the upper right corner of your computer screen. You can move and resize the Help dialog box.

Click the Index tab to display a scrollable index of keywords and terms, much like an index found in a printed book. Double-click the keyword or term that pertains to the subject on which you want help. If there is only one relevant topic, it automatically appears. If there are multiple topics, you can select the one you want to see.

Click the Find tab to display a help wizard that leads you through a process to find help topics based on keywords you enter.

LSM also provides Help buttons in most of its dialog boxes. Click the Help button in an LSM dialog box to display the help topic associated with that LSM feature.

When a help topic appears on your computer screen, you can move and resize the window just like with any other Windows help topic. The Help window also contains buttons that enable you to print the topic, view the previous topic, or return to the Help Topics dialog box.

'How Do I' Help

The 'How Do I' help feature provides online information for commonly used LSM functions. 'How Do I' help is similar to Windows online help and has its own Help Topics dialog box. Select 'How Do I' from the Help menu to access 'How Do I' help.

'What Is This' Help

The 'What Is This' help feature on many Windows NT and Windows 95 applications provides a short description of each feature in the LSM Administrator GUI program. You access this help by clicking a button, icon, or other graphical feature with the right mouse button. Right-click the mouse on these items to display a pop-up menu next to the pointer. Here you can select the 'What Is This' command, as well as other commands. Selecting the 'What Is This' command displays a pop-up box that contains information about what the item is and what actions you can take with it.

'Field' Help

The 'Field' Help feature appears when you click the 'Field' Help button in certain dialog boxes. Because of LSM's architecture, the items that appear in a dialog box can vary depending on the configuration of the LSM Server to which you are connected. To meet the dynamic nature of these dialog box contents, 'Field' Help provides a dynamic help system based on the items you see on screen.

Dialog boxes with 'Field' Help still have buttons for accessing the Windows online help. The online help topic for a dialog box indicates whether you need to access 'Field' Help to view a description of the dialog box contents.

Windows Command-Line Utilities Help

Note:

Since the Windows Command-Line Utilities Help for LSM is the same as for the Legato NetWorker upgrade product, you might see "NetWorker" references in the Command-Line Utilities Help. For any "NetWorker" reference, substitute "LSM".

Available with the Windows NT version of LSM, the Command-Line Utilities Help files provide highly technical information about certain LSM commands. Some of these commands are not represented in the Windows interface. In some cases, the Command-Line Utilities Help files provide additional information about using LSM hidden attributes.

The Command-Line Utilities Help files are HTML files in the DOC\LEGATO\CLUHELP subdirectory on the Oracle8i (or Oracle8) for Windows NT CD-ROM that also contains LSM. These files are not installed on your local disk during Oracle or LSM installation. You must access them directly from the CD-ROM.

Note:

You must use a web browser to view these files. Do not attempt to use the AcrobatTM Reader.

To view the Command-Line Utilities Help files, follow these steps:

Load the Oracle8i (or Oracle8) for Windows NT CD-ROM in the appropriate drive.

Start your favorite web browser and select the Open File command or equivalent.

Select INDEX.HTM in the DOC\LEGATO\CLUHELP subdirectory to start the Command-Line Utilities Help files home page.

Follow the instructions on the home page to obtain information about a specific command utility.